


What A Feeling

by Alainne1



Category: One Piece
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-08-09 19:21:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7814035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alainne1/pseuds/Alainne1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Straw Hats, the Heart Pirates and the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates are in the middle of alliance negotiations when they are attacked by a mysterious woman, Miranda, who possesses the power of the Emo Emo Fruit. The woman vanishes in the middle of the attack, but something was left behind: A connection between the emotions of everyone who was attacked. </p><p>Post Dressrosa modified canon, Ace is alive</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Connect

**Author's Note:**

> The recently aired anime Kiznaiver inspired me with the idea of connected emotions and I decided to give it a shot. :) I take some liberties modifying the canon with this one, and not all the modifications are explained in detail. For example, Ace never died at Marineford, but Luffy still got his fleet from Dressrosa even though obviously there couldn't have been a battle with the Mera Mera No Mi as the price. But even though I'm not bothering to explain what exactly happened, I don't doubt that Luffy somehow won the trust of all those pirates. I just don't think it's very relevant for this fic to go in to the details, I hope you don't mind. :)
> 
> I'm working on this as a fun project as I'm currently finishing a longer, heavy and serious One Piece fic. I think my main motivation to write this fic is to be able to write fun situations between the characters I love so much, so I wouldn't expect too deep of a story in here :P

”So…” Marco said, his eyes slowly sweeping over everyone sitting in Thousand Sunny’s aquarium. “What are we here for, exactly?” He sat with Ace on one side of the round room, facing a selection of both Straw Hats and Heart Pirates. He wasn’t exactly comfortable sitting there – he never was in an enemy ship – but since he was with Ace, there obviously wasn’t any danger. Still, Marco was far from relaxed.

“An alliance,” Trafalgar Law said.

Surgeon of Death, Marco thought. The man had certainly made a name of himself during these two years. To first achieve the position of a shichibukai and then get involved in everything that had went down in Dressrosa… “An alliance?”

“Yes,” Trafalgar said. “An alliance between the Straw Hats, the Heart Pirates and the Whitebeard remnants.”

Ace shifted on his seat next to him, looking eager. Marco suppressed a sigh. He didn’t like the way Ace showed his emotions – not when they were in the middle of a negotiation. The kid still had a lot to learn, and Marco knew it was partly his fault. He’d been very easy – too easy – on Ace after the gruesome injury the kid had taken at Marineford. At first it had been a necessity as the injury had taken nearly a year to heal properly, bit after that… It had just become a habit. A bad habit. Ace was one of the commanders and he would need to learn these things sooner or later.

Marco glanced at Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, who hadn’t said a word. He was very young, even younger than Ace, and the way the Straw Hat boy reminded him of Ace made him smile. He hid that smile well, of course, behind the mask of indifference he was wearing. Ace and Luffy had something very similar in their mannerism and the way Luffy was pouting right now was confusingly familiar to Marco. Luffy seemed to be even worse at hiding his emotions than Ace, and that was quite a feat in itself.

“Lay it out for me, will you, Trafalgar,” Marco said slowly after deliberately taking his time. “What’s in it for you and what’s in it for us?”

“Just call me Law,” the man said. “No need to be formal, we’re friends here, aren’t we?” Law smiled at him and Marco didn’t know if that was a genuine attempt at a friendly smile or if Law just wanted to intimidate them. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what our crews have been up to lately,” Law continued, “but just to make sure we’re on the same page here, the Straw Hat-Heart alliance successfully took down Donflamingo and freed Dressrosa all while gaining the support of a fleet of over 5000.”

“Over 5000?” Ace gasped, revealing more of their cards than Marco would’ve preferred. They had known Luffy had gained some foothold and backing upon his arrival in the New World, but the numbers were sure surprising. It was more than three times the numbers of Whitebeard’s fleet in its best days. It was even more impressive now as their own numbers were dwindling despite Marco’s best efforts to keep the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates together.

“As for us,” Law continued, “we’re just looking some extra stability. Whitebeard himself might be gone, but his name and legacy are still there. Your lineup of commanders is impressive and the name of Whitebeard bears influence. Our crew’s don’t seem to have any overlapping short term goals and there is already a bond and your crew and the Straw Hats. As I see this, an official alliance would be benefit everyone.”

Marco nodded. It was true that even without an alliance, the Straw Hat boy might show up on their doorstep if Ace was in trouble and Ace might do the same for his little brother.

“And what are those short term goals of yours, then?” Marco asked.

“We will have to take on Kaido, whether we wanted or not, after what went down in Dressrosa,” Law said. It was peculiar how he did all the talking even though from Marco’s point of view, the Straw Hat was actually the bigger player in their negotiation. His eyes were sweeping past the others sitting in the room. There was a man in an orange overall sitting with Law – Marco didn’t recognize him – and Luffy was accompanied by the Straw Hat navigator, Cat Burglar Nami. By Marco’s quick judgement, Nami was actually the more attentive part of the team while Luffy was rocking on his seat, clearly wanting to say something but trying to keep his mouth shut. He really was so much like Ace.

“You bring your share of troubles to the alliance, that’s for sure,” Marco said. “Kaido is on your tail and there are rumors of Big Mom having interest in you, also.”

It was the navigator, Nami, who replied this time. “The Big Mom situation had been dissolved into an involuntary truce of a sort,” she said. “She is no longer interested in marrying of her daughter to one of ours – not after we destroyed the Germa 66 fleet.”

“As for Kaido,” Law continued, “we might have a minor problem there. That is one of the reasons we are seeking for this alliance.”

Minor problem? Marco suppressed a chuckle.

“Besides,” Law kept going, “it’s not like you’re not bringing your share, too.” He smirked and Marco caught a smile in his eyes.

He was starting to like Trafalgar Law more and more as the negotiations progressed. Well, maybe not like. But appreciate. It wasn’t the first time Marco was negotiating an alliance and it clearly wasn’t the first time Law was, either. Both of them were keeping appropriately vague about their real situations and goals, giving up only the necessary information. Their real cards would be revealed only if they came to an agreement. Both Marco and Law knew they might just as well leave this room as enemies.

“The name of Whitebeard is not loved by everyone,” Law said, “and it does encourage many in the New World to take steps against you now that the threat of Whitebeard himself has diminished. And I have heard Edward Weevil taking down crews under your flag,” he added.

Marco’s face showed none of the surprise the words had stirred. Trafalgar Law was dangerously well informed if he knew of Weevil and the trouble he had caused them already. He smiled. “You must greatly overestimate that Weevil brat if you compare the threat he poses to one of an emperor,” Marco said, and saw how Law tensed a bit. If Marco wanted to be part of the alliance for extra protection, he would back out now. The alliance would expose them to a danger that exceeded any protection it might offer. But today, the Heart Pirates and the Straw Hats were in luck. That’s because Marco didn’t particularly mind that danger.

“So I take it you’re not interested in the alliance we’re offering?” Law asked, some coldness creeping into his voice.

“Oh, no,” Marco said, finally letting a smile curl up the corners of his mouth. “That’s not right. We’re actually very interested.” He did get some satisfaction from the way Law twitched at the words. The man clearly didn’t like to be played and Marco was guilty of doing just that – playing him just a little bit – for the fun of it. “You see,” he continued, “the Whitebeard Pirates are changing. Back in Pops’ days, we valued peace and stability. Pops found importance in protection and avoided unnecessary conflict. We still do value his ideology and legacy, but right now the Whitebeard Pirates lack the status and the power Pops had. We cannot keep on functioning as we used to.” Marco didn’t mind sharing the details now. He was sure neither the Straw Hats nor the Heart Pirates would back out at this point. After all, they were the ones who really needed this alliance. “So now, the Whitebeard Pirates are changing. We no longer hold claims on islands like we used to, but we’re not as weakened as one might think. The younger generation just wishes to take a new direction. We’re in the game, now, just like everyone else.”

Marco took a moment to let everything he’d said sink in. Law nodded, Nami seemed relieved, and Luffy was practically bouncing on his seat. “The Whitebeard Pirates are thirsting for some serious action, and taking on one of the emperors might just quench that thirst,” he continued. “Besides, Kaido had something we’d love to have a look at.”

Law raised an eyebrow but it was Nami who spoke. “The road poneglyph?” she asked.

“Oh, you know of those, too. That will make things easier,” Marco said, nodding.

“It’s decided then?” Law asked.

“It’s decided.”

“Finally!” Luffy moaned, jumping up from his seat. “Traffy, you didn’t tell me it was going to be this long and this boooooriiing.”

Marco blinked. The tension that had just now filled the room had dropped like a rock.

“Straw Hat-ya,” Law said. “You’re one of the three captains in this alliance. You cannot just skip a meeting like this.”

“I trust you, Traffy.”

“You shouldn’t. You’re idiotic trust will one day lead you to your certain doom.”

Marco followed the rapid exchange of words, baffled. Sure, he had expected the Straw Hat captain to be carefree and laid back like Ace, but this was just absurd.

“But isn’t this cool,” Luffy kept going and made a sudden jump towards the side of the aquarium room where Ace and Marco where sitting. Without a warning, Luffy installed himself in the narrow space between the two of them and slammed their backs with an alarming force. “Were so pirate allied now, Ace, Pineapple-head-guy,” he said, his gummy hands extending and grabbing both Ace and Marco into a violent hug.

Ace was laughing while Marco tried to look for an escape. He caught Law’s eyes and the look in them told him everything he needed to know. There wouldn’t be an escape, not from Luffy. What exactly had he signed into, allying with the Straw Hats?

“Party, party!” Luffy yelled as he bounced away from them and towards the stairs that would take him to the deck.

Ace was still chuckling as he gave a sideways glance to Marco. “I did warn you, didn’t I?”

“Yes you did,” Marco replied, holding his head in his hands. “Yes you did. But I guess this was one of those things you just have to experience to properly understand.”

Luffy was running up the stairs when sudden noise and shouts carrying from the deck alarmed everyone in the aquarium. Were they under an attack? They rushed towards the stairs and the deck when the air gained a strange colorful quality. It was a peculiar moment. Marco couldn’t see any one color, yet he felt he saw all of them.

“Marco!” Ace gasped. He’d been running behind him. “Your head!”

Marco’s hand flew to his head, but he couldn’t feel anything out of place. “What?” He glanced over his shoulder and froze. A white thread was rising from the midst of Ace’s brown hair. A quick glance around and he saw similar threads on every head.

“Must be a devil’s fruit power of some kind,” Law said. “Hurry up!”

Marco kept rushing up the stairs until he made it to the deck. He stopped suddenly and Ace who’d been running behind him bumped into him, sending both of them stumbling forward. It took Marco’s eyes away from the sight in front of him, but only for a moment. The deck was filled with the same colorless color he’d seen down in the aquarium and there were threads, coming out of people’s heads, just like the one he’d seen on Ace’s head. The threads were slowly growing longer and traveling towards—

“There,” Marco shouted, pointing at a woman who was flying a giant, bat-like creature. She wore a dark, violet dress that matched the color of the bat perfectly, making it difficult to see where the woman ended and the bat started. The long leaves and hems of the dress were fluttering in the air as the bat kept them out of their immediate reach. The woman was pale white and thin, but yet somehow attractive creature. “She must be the fruit user,” Marco yelled, still pointing.

The threads were growing longer. They were silky and white, like spider web, just wide enough to be visible. Some of them were traveling through objects, one even sprouting from the deck. Not materialized, then, Marco thought. That’s why he hadn’t felt anything when he touched his head. The Straw Hat crewmembers, all sprouting those weird threads, seemed to be on various stages of freaking out. Some of them just stared at the woman, some were trying to escape – a futile attempt considering the immaterial nature of the threads whose meaning was not yet known. A few of the Straw Hats were lying on the deck as if in pain. They were the strong ones, too, Marco realized as he recognized Roronoa Zoro and Blackleg Sanji on the ground. What the hell was going on in here?

“Attack the fruit user,” Law shouted and the deck was engulfed in the blue sphere of his devil fruit power, but before anything happened, Law crumbled down on his knees, his hands pressing against his chest.

“Traffy!” Luffy shouted and stretched an arm towards the woman – just for it to fall limply down on the deck as Luffy went down, too.

“Marco!” Ace yelped as his flames were snuffed out.

Marco watched in horror how Ace fell down on the deck, tears suddenly streaming out of his eyes. And then it hit him. His gut wrenched and his ribcage tightened when a pain engulfed him. But it wasn’t physical pain. It was the pain he had felt in Marineford when he saw Pops die in front of his eyes on the battlefield. It was the paralyzing feeling of uselessness he’d felt while escaping with Ace who was barely holding onto his life. It was the sorrow, too, that he’d felt afterwards – that he still felt. Everything was encompassed in a cold and hard ball invading his chest and there was nothing he was able to do to fight it. Physical pain might slow one down, but all the hurt, all that emotion was paralyzing him completely.

“Jahajahajahajaha,” the woman laughed. Marco heard it in the back of his mind, as if coming through a heavy velvet veil that muffled everything, but it was just his emotions snuffing life out of everything else around him. “Behold the power of my Emo Emo Fruit!” the woman yelled, her high, screeching voice cutting through Marco’s mind. “My name is Miranda and my devil fruit power controls emotions. You are all powerless before me! Jahajahajahajahajaha!”

Marco lay on the deck, unable to do anything, as the threads finally reached the Woman’s fingers. “And now the main evening of the evening,” the woman shouted. “CONNECT!” With a quick move of her fingers, she tied all the threads into a knot. “Have fun,” she said, as the bat let out a long, wailing howl and shoot up towards the clouds.

The pain, all the emotion that had been paralyzing Marco until that point, vanished so suddenly that he’s body fell on the deck, limp and without energy. The rush of emotion he had experienced was only a memory, lingering around the edges of his mind. Slowly, Marco opened his eyes. He stood up, staggering, as he started to regain his control over himself. Everyone else did the same. The threads were gone, as was the colorless color that had surrounded them.

“Did anyone see which direction she flew to?” Law asked, but everyone shook their heads. The bat had been quick to leave them behind at the moment of their disorientation.

“What the hell happened?” Ace asked. “She attacked us, but now she’d gone?”

“She did something,” Marco said slowly. “Tied the threads.”

“We don’t know what it means,” Nami said. “Could be anything. Do you feel any different than normal?”

Marco tried to search anything, anything at all inside him, but he felt normal. The atmosphere was sure gloomy as hell, but that was sort of expected after what they had been through. Marco assumed he wasn’t the only one who had been force to relive emotions they’d rather leave behind – forever.

“Oh well,” Luffy said, he’s tone surprisingly cheerful, “we’re bound to find out eventually, aren’t we?” His words dissolved into laughter. “Hey, we were middle of a starting a party!”

There were gasps as people’s eyes around him widened in shock and surprise. Marco gasped, too. Inside him, the gloominess was rapidly being replaced by bubbling joy and excitement, and Marco felt a strong, sudden urge to party and leave the whole experience behind as fast as possible. It felt like nothing he was supposed to feel at the moment. What—

“What the hell?” someone stole his thoughts.

Luffy was looking at them, confused. The alien rush of excitement in Marco’s belly subsided slightly.

“That was… That feeling was...” Ace began, his face bewildered and astonished all at once. “...definitely Luffy.”


	2. Case Trafalgar Law, vol 1

The rest of the day after the attack was extremely unpleasant for Trafalgar Law. It quickly became clear that not everyone felt everything the others felt. It was the strongest and the most impulsive feelings that made it through the connection between them. And it was either the strongest emotions or the ones felt by the person with the strongest will that were loudest – they didn’t know which one it was yet. They’d learned that they were able to feel how scared Usopp was most of the time, but whenever Luffy had fun, it drowned everything else under it. Whether it was because Luffy’s will was very strong or that the emotions he had were exceptionally powerful, didn’t really matter. The fact was that Luffy was broadcasting everything he felt, to all of them, all the time, and it made Law very, very uncomfortable.

  
The problem wasn’t only that Law wasn’t used to such strong emotions inside him – it was the type of emotions he was experiencing. Luffy was mind-numbingly happy all the fucking time and as if it wasn’t enough to be just experience that happiness, it also drowned effectively any annoyance Law felt towards the whole situation. So instead of being his own annoyed self, Law was forced to feel cheerful, and happy, and giddy, and oh-so-very-content with his life. Luffy’s unstoppable joy was bubbling inside him nearly all the time and it was driving him absolutely fucking crazy. It was nearly impossible to concentrate on finding solutions the way he felt. He just wanted to have that freakin’ party – Luffy did, that is. Inside his mind. Mixing his feelings with Law’s so thoroughly that it was hard to tell them apart anymore.

  
Emotions weren’t the only thing that seemed to travel through the connection. Strong impulses did, too, and that is why right now everyone on board Sunny found it hard to think of anything else than partying. They forced themselves, though. They had quickly rounded up everyone onboard at the time of the attack. That included the six of them who had been in the aquarium, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Franky and Robin. Chopper and Brook had been on board Polar Tang, and like the rest of the Heart Pirates, were unaffected.

  
“Hey there’s Marco!” Ace said, pointing at something in the distance, and involuntarily sending out his excitement for everyone to share.

  
Law turned to look, too, and true to Ace’s words, the phoenix engulfed in blue flames was approaching their ship with speed matching the one of a missile. It took him only a moment to reach the deck and the bird transformed into a man with one graceful leap.

  
“The distance does matter,” he said as soon as he was steadily on his two feet again.

“Luffy’s emotions definitely got blended as I got further, but I wasn’t able to get rid of them completely.”

  
“That’s good news,” Law said and relief – maybe his, maybe someone else’s – flushed over him.

  
“Yeah,” Marco said. “I didn’t even have to get too far away before noticing the effect.”

  
“Maybe we should head home, then,” Ace said to Marco who nodded. “It’s probably easier to think and try to figure out what to do about this without Luffy’s emotions going all over the place. No offence, Luffy,” he added, noticing the pout on Luffy’s face and the offended huff that dampened their feelings for a split second before passing away.

  
“You won’t be staying for the party?” Luffy asked.

  
“Not tonight, Luffy, sorry,” Ace said and shook his head. They all felt Luffy’s sadness and the impulse to hold Ace back. “We can’t waste any time figuring this out.”

  
Law nodded. “The sooner we can get to the root of this, the better.”

  
“We’ll do everything we can to figure out who that woman was and to whom she works for,” Marco said as blue flames started to flicker on his body.

  
“I will do my best to counter the effects of the devil fruit,” Law said.

  
“We’ll be in touch,” Marco, now in full phoenix form again, said. Then he lowered his neck to allow Ace to climb on his back. Ace must be one of the few people to be able to travel with Marco like that, Law realized, as Ace’s red flames mixed into Marco’s blue. Only a compatible logia would be able to be so close to Marco’s flames. The phoenix took off and shoot towards the sky leaving a trail of flames behind.

  
Law sighed. Those two were the lucky ones, getting away from Luffy. Maybe he should go, too? The possibility was always there. He could just take Polar Fang and leave Sunny and all the unwanted feelings that came with it behind. Then he would have only himself and Penguin to worry about. A quick glanced towards Penguin who had accompanied him in the meeting told Law that he wasn’t the only one with that particular trail of thought. But if he left, the Straw Hats would be in real trouble. Nearly everyone in their crew where affected by that woman and enclosed in a small ship that might lead to a real disaster. If anything, Polar Fang could offer some relief to them. They could divide the affected people and take some distance when they needed it as long as they traveled together.

  
Yes, it would be irresponsible to leave the Straw Hats on their own now. If there was someone who was able to find a solution to this, it was Law. The number one strategy to solve this situation was obviously tracking the woman down and kicking her unconscious. If all devil fruit powers worked like Sugar’s power – and Law had no reason to think otherwise – then knocking the woman out would undo the power. However, Law didn’t want to place all his trust on that one strategy. They didn’t know the woman’s whereabouts and there was no certainty of finding those out.

  
Law had another idea, too. He had realized very soon after understanding what had happened that the technique reminded him of something – something of his own. If you think of it, connecting minds and switching them isn’t that different, is it? Of course, the Emo Emo Fruit connected emotions instead of minds, but it still bore striking resemblance to the personality transplant surgery Law was able to do with Ope Ope Fruit. The problem was that even with his room, Law wasn’t able to see the threads or feel the threads – or cut the threads. He had tried cutting the air around his head with all possible tools ranging from Kikoku to scalpel and even to Sanji’s kitchen knives, Zoro’s katanas, and a sharp-edged fish Luffy had offered him. He hadn’t had big hopes with the last one, but feeling Luffy’s genuine impulse to help and the misery after the fish was overlooked had – against his free will – softened Law enough to give it a go. He’d been generously rewarded by happiness and proudness even though the fish did nothing to help with their problem. Afterwards, Law had done his best to banish the image of himself shoving a fish around his head at random trying to reach the invisible threads. He didn’t need to remember that.

  
Law watched how the Straw Hats were getting on with their business as usual on Sunny’s deck. Outsider would’ve never noticed something was amiss. The only thing giving away the strange power at play was their infrequent, synchronized smiles and gasps whenever someone’s feelings peaked. Law sighed. The upcoming task wouldn’t be easy but it was a task he had to do. If he wanted to cut off the connection, he had to learn how to use his room to manipulate emotions. He was sure there was a way to do it – after all, he was supposed to be able to manipulate everything inside his room.

  
But first and foremost, they had to party. There was no way he could get any work done before Luffy’s wish to have that goddamn party subsided, and this Luffy-affected version of Law was really, really looking forward to it. Fuck.


	3. Case Marco, vol 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco has trouble keeping his feelings in check

When Ace jumped on Marco’s back and the familiar affection filled his chest, Marco’s mind blanked in horror. This was bad. Ace would be able to feel what Marco felt – and Marco really didn’t want that to happen. No, fuck no. Hell would break loose if Ace found out what was going on inside his head. They had a good relationship now – a good working relationship – and Marco didn’t want to mess it up. After all, he was older than Ace - so much older that Ace might feel disgusted by him. And he was Ace’s superior, at least in a way. The Whitebeard Pirates hadn’t chosen a new captain, not really, but at the moment the responsibility to appear as the acting captain fell on the 1st division commander. So even though the commanders discussed all important matters together, there was certain undeniable superiority in play. It would be very bad if his feelings got outed at a moment like this.

Right now, he was safe. They were still on board Sunny and with all the emotions in the air, Marco’s affection towards Ace hardly stood out. But what about later, back in their own ship? There was no way to avoid going back, so the only sensible thing to do is to keep his feelings in check. He could do that. Of course he could.

The moment they took off and skyrocketed towards the clouds, Marco understood just how difficult his task would be. Ace’s unlimited joy and thrill of flying slammed against his mind like sumo wrestler executing a finishing move and it overwhelmed Marco so completely that he nearly lost himself.

“Wohooooo!” Ace shouted as he always did when they took off, but never before had Marco realized how much Ace enjoyed flying. He increased his speed without even realizing what he was doing, Ace’s emotions completely taking over his mind. And he flew a few loops, if only to extract even more thrilled shrieks and joyous laughter out of Ace. Marco always enjoyed flying but today… It was incredible. Together they chased geese, dove down towards the sea with a crazy speed and descended dangerously close to the sea level. Marco would’ve never gone so far if he were in his right mind, but Ace loved it – loved the danger and the speed – and Marco loved it too, or maybe it was just Ace’s emotions that he loved.

When they finally landed on the deck of Moby Dick II, they were both exhausted and out of laughter. Marco could only hope Ace didn’t recognize the emptiness that filled him after the contact between their bodies broke off. It was impossible to not feel it after all.

Marco did his best trying to avoid Ace for the rest of the day – or at least avoid any more contact than necessary. It was surprisingly easy, and Marco realized that maybe Ace tried to keep his distance, too. Nobody wanted their feelings laid bare.

The next morning Marco was eating his breakfast, when Ace suddenly sat opposite him, setting his tray on the table with a clang.

“Marco,” he said, and there was a very uncharacteristic blush creeping up his cheeks.

Marco swallowed and tried to stay as calm as humanly possible. The look on Ace’s face had to be bad news.

“Umm,” Ace tried to continue, clearly at a loss of words. “Umm, did you, by any chance, have some weird sex dreams last night?”

Marco choked on the potato he was eating, coughed and groaned and stared at Ace who was now red as a beetroot. “I…” he tried to start but didn’t know what to say. The problem was that yes, he had had weird sex dreams, and no, there was no way he was going to confess it to Ace. It was probably because of the exhilarating flight they’d had yesterday that his mind had stayed so active even through the night. And… Fuck, Marco cursed in his mind as the real meaning behind Ace’s words opened to him. Ace knew about the dreams because of that fucking connection and was now confused and, shit, what was he supposed to do in a situation like this?

“I…” he began again, “Yeah, I guess,” he then said, resigning himself to tell the truth.

“Oh thank God!” Ace exclaimed with a pronounced exhale – and utterly confused Marco once again. “God, I thought there was something seriously wrong with me, with those dreams and all,” he continued, relaxing. He started to stuff his mouth with the fish and potatoes that they were having for breakfast.

Marco took a small, careful sip of his coffee. He very much didn’t understand what was going on in here.

“Because,” Ace mumbled, his mouth full, “I was really worried for a second there. Gosh.”

Marco was still staring at him. Marco’s own dreams had been quite unspecific, but surely Ace had to realize he was the source.

“But since you had dreams too, it must be the connection. As if there was any way I would suddenly want to fuck Roronoa Zoro.”

_What?_

“There must be a hell breaking loose on the Straw Hat ship, don’t you think?” Ace kept going, apparently not even noticing that Marco was yet to say a single word. “Someone there must really have hots for Zoro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super short chapters, but I guess this is how the story will be - it's supposed to be a fun side project to me, after all :P I hope you like the way it's going because I'm having so much fun with the idea :D
> 
> ...and you can only imagine what's going on in Sunny!! :D We'll check on the Straw Hats in the next chapter!


	4. Case Sanji, vol 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hell did broke loose on sunny and it might've been the most uncomfortable moment in Sanji's whole life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being super sluggish updating this one. TBH I'm not sure how much I'm going to continue - it's just something I write for fun when I feel like it. Bear with me!

The hell had definitely broken loose on Sunny. Eight people, all of them looking extremely sleep deprived, were sitting in the galley and longing for the coffee that Sanji was brewing. Sanji tried to be quick about it, but it wasn’t his fault that they were all up so early. Why where they up if they were all so sleep deprived, he wondered as he whisked the eggs for omelets.  

“So,” Nami said – groaned, really, and quite unfemininely, too. “We all know all too well why we’re here.” 

Nods and groans followed. Even Luffy seemed groggy. The atmosphere in the galley was heavy and unwelcoming. 

“Okay, so,” Nami said. Next to him, Usopp was fidgeting with his hands. Penguin stared at the table. Robin had a faint, amused smile on his lips. “So…” Nami said again. Sanji was confused by now because he didn’t really have any idea what was going on. “Can someone explain me,” Nami began with a borderline angry voice, “why the hell did I want to use the entirety of last night fucking Zoro, here.” 

Sanji felt his eyes widen and his breathe hitch as he registered Nami’s words. _Nami wanted to fuck_ _Zoro_ _?_  

“And when I say fuck, I mean – as you probably all know by now – I really mean fuck, with my freakin’ penis, that I obviously don’t have in real life and that I sure as hell am not dreaming of owning.” 

Sanji blinked. _As you all probably know?_  

“It was quite an interesting night,” Robin chuckled. 

Sanji glanced at Zoro, who was standing in the corner, his face hard as stone, yet somewhat red. 

“Interesting my ass,” Law groaned, leaned back in his chair and started massaging his temples with his fingertips. 

“It was the worst night of my life, guys,” Usopp whimpered. “I’m not that into guys, you know, and to be forced to stay awake for the whole night and imagine myself doing something like that… No offence, mate,” he added to Zoro who showed no reaction. 

“I thought it was funny,” Luffy offered. 

“A real man never backs off from a challenge,” Franky said and suddenly the galley was filled with his roaring laughter. “Even if it has to do imagining myself with all kinds of positions with our swordsman.” 

“Oh God, Franky,” Nami yelped, “Don’t make it any worse! Now I’m imagining you and Zoro—“ 

“Could someone just appreciate the fact that I’m actually here?” Zoro asked, his voice even and tightly controlled.  

“Sorry, Zoro,” Nami said.  

There was a definitive horror building inside Sanji and he was very much sure it was his own this time. _Oh God._   

“So how on earth are we going to solve this one?” Usopp asked. 

“Well, I guess after we know who the culprit is,” Law said, giving a dark chuckle that lifted up every hair in the back of Sanji’s neck, “we can start figuring that out. I might be able to come up with something that prevents dreaming. Chopper might have something, too.” 

Sanji felt hot and uncomfortable and his skin prickled as everyone’s eyes turned to him.  

“Sorry guys,” Nami said, her eyes flicking from Sanji to Zoro and back again, “but we have to do this.” There was a short pause in which Sanji wanted to disappear, die, and kill everyone in the room - all at once. “Sanji,” Nami said, her voice softer and apologetic now, “Anything you want to confess to us?”

**Author's Note:**

> How did you like the set up and the first chapter?


End file.
